No matter if you’re in an office or home, full-time or part-time, getting ready for a holiday is hard work! There are lots of skills and traits that we use at work that help us prepare for and have a successful holiday. We’re pleased to share a three-part blog series to share how we use our PR and nutrition expertise to tackle Thanksgiving!

PlanningThe Menu: Planning Thanksgiving dinner plays right into my strengths as a PR professional. When I first started hosting Thanksgiving, I created a document that outlined guests attending, courses, dishes and ingredients for each recipe. This all-in-one file is the list of foods I need to prepare as well as my ready-to-print shopping list when it’s time to hit the store. Saving this as a document means that it’s at my fingertips for years to come. This year, all I need to do was open my 2017 file and save it for 2018 and already half my planning was done!

The Shopping: With a busy, full-time schedule, shopping is difficult, and I refuse to do all my shopping in the short evenings before Thanksgiving Thursday! As added incentive to shop ahead, some supermarkets offer deals, like a free turkey (!!!), when you spend a certain amount of money leading up to Thanksgiving. With my handy-dandy menu/shopping list document, I can prioritize my shopping based on perish-ability and purchase some items 1-2 weeks ahead of time to cut down on what I need when stores are most crowded. And remember it takes DAYS to thaw a frozen turkey. Depending on the weight, you may need up to six days in the fridge to thaw it. Visit foodsafety.gov for thawing times.

Decide What to Delegate: Chances are, you’ve invited over friends and family eager to help. Decide what would be helpful to have someone else bring and ask! Just like in the office, teamwork is key! No need to be a Thanksgiving hero and do it all when you have plenty of loved ones eager to contribute!

On February 1, the Super Bowl launched more than American football fever. The event dominated news and social media, and consequently created one of the largest newsjacking opportunities for brands across the country. As the online arena heated up, social media became even more competitive than the players on the field. From big brands to local businesses, everyone could join in NFL-mania.

However, there is more to jumping on the news cycle than adding “#SB49” to the end of a post. Trending news stories can be an effective tool for getting a brand’s name out in social media, but it is important to remember that just because something is #trending, doesn’t mean strategy should be thrown out the window. In fact, “newsjacked” posts may be seen by a larger audience than usual and should be even more carefully crafted.

Some tips to keep in mind when marrying social media trends with brand strategies:

Keep it neutral

Remember that a brand probably has fans on both sides of any issue (or game). While a little good-natured competition can be humorous, especially in the sports world, be careful not to go too far. Without the benefit of tonality, the audience can easily misinterpret sarcasm and jokes for something more mean-spirited.

Keep your brand in mind

For a post to be most effective, it should be about the brand and the event. Find a connection and work with it. Clothing stores are not expected to share player stats, but go ahead and share some sketches of redesigned team outfits or styles. Even if the connection is simply being based in a certain city, be sure the brand’s image and tone are still present among the news.

Pick your moments

Your audience doesn’t need or expect a social media post after every touchdown, or even every game. Instead, choose your moment – one witty brand post will go farther than 10 bland ones.

Have fun!

Interact with consumers and get involved. Being a top-tier sponsor and creator of the beloved Clydesdale ads, Budweiser was sure to be a popular Twitter account during the Big Game. Still, they decided to add some extra excitement for the fans. They amplified their advertising with puppy and Clydesdale memes shared on Twitter, and responded to fans who were reacting in real-time to their commercial. It might have taken a little creativity and precise social media management, but Budweiser benefitted as fans shared the images and tweets across the internet – and the brand gained followers.

Newsjacking is one of the most advantageous brand opportunities that has arisen from the social media explosion. It allows brands the chance for exposure and audience growth that could typically take several months, or even years. Of course, this means the possibility of negative exposure grows as well, and many brands have seen the consequences of misinterpreted or mishandled posts. However, with a strong social media strategy and a little cleverness, brands can truly benefit from the instantaneous nature of social media and breaking news.

At Pollock Communications, we specialize in building awareness for food, health and wellness clients and we know that understanding how to use the right social media tools for a brand and maintaining a strong social media presence is crucial to delivering stellar results for our clients. For more information on how we can help build your social media strategy, contact us.